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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. spring — a coil
  5. foot — a measure
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. fall — to drop
  8. capital — a city
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. rock — music
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. cell — in biology
  15. fall — the season
  16. cell — a phone
  17. capital — money
  18. spring — the season
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. rock — a stone
  23. spring — of water
  24. cell — in a prison

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com